metal clarinet
Lena Larsson
60359. Is there anobody who can tell me how old it is and something about
the Elkhart company?
Dee D. Flint
"Lena Larsson" <anders...@telia.com> wrote in message
news:t6Kvc.94361$dP1.3...@newsc.telia.net...
> I have just bought a metal clarinet,Elkhart,model cavalier,serial number
> 60359. Is there anobody who can tell me how old it is and something about
> the Elkhart company?
>
>
Probably about late 1930s or early 1940s. This was a student model.
Gary Morrison
name was used on saxophones too, and I think saxophones made by Buescher.
Steve Marshall
"Gary Morrison" <mr8...@austin.rr.com> wrote
> For whatever it may be worth (probably not much!), I think the Elkhart
> name was used on saxophones too, and I think saxophones made by Buescher.
Some Elkharts were made by Buescher. Others made them too. At one point they
were Weltklangs. Current Elkharts are made in Taiwan. It is basically a
stencil name and Buescher used to make the stencil horns.
I've heard that mainly two factories made metal claris. I'll need to check
the names. I think one was Penzil Muller (?)
The story I heard was that they came about when the army was in Burma and
the heat and humidity was such that the clarinets split, so metal ones were
made that wouldn't crack in the heat.
Steve M
Dee D. Flint
"Steve Marshall" <s...@atmosBlockA.plus.com> wrote in message
news:t0iwc.11512$NK4.1...@stones.force9.net...
> [snip]
> I've heard that mainly two factories made metal claris. I'll need to check
> the names. I think one was Penzil Muller (?)
> The story I heard was that they came about when the army was in Burma and
> the heat and humidity was such that the clarinets split, so metal ones
were
> made that wouldn't crack in the heat.
>
Metal clarinets have been around since before 1910. Many companies made
metal clarinets at one time including Leblanc (under the Noblet name),
Selmer, Haynes, and Conn. There was a plethora of small companies making
them also. Even some foreign companies made metal clarinets. I have one
from probably the 1930s stamped made in Italy.
no spam
teacher had played in the Ringling Bros, Barnum and Baily circus band, and then was solo clarinet in
the Long Beach Municple Band under Pryor. He owned a set of three clarinets in one case, B flat, A
and E flat. The A came in handy when the band part in B flat had many sharps. He transposed on the
A clarinet. I got into the habit of using my A clarinet in band music.
ns
Gary Morrison
and during WWII, because the Nazis had taken over most of the areas
where African blackwood (grenadilla) was being exported from. I don't
know what they did for oboes though; I don't know of any signifcant
quantities of oboes made of other materials (and of course there was
essentially no plastic in those days).
Dee D. Flint
"Gary Morrison" <mr8...@austin.rr.com> wrote in message
news:40C35E27...@austin.rr.com...
I think this is just another of the common "urban myths". They actually
appear to have been made in great quantities for the school trade as they
were sturdy instruments.
Steve Marshall
"Dee D. Flint" <deefl...@comcast.net> wrote
> Metal clarinets have been around since before 1910. Many companies made
> metal clarinets at one time including Leblanc (under the Noblet name),
> Selmer, Haynes, and Conn. There was a plethora of small companies making
> them also. Even some foreign companies made metal clarinets. I have one
> from probably the 1930s stamped made in Italy.
Weren't most of them stencils ?
I think Gretch is the one I've seen most of.
Steve M
Dee D. Flint
I imagine so.
Paul Lindemeyer
<s...@atmosBlockA.plus.com> wrote:
> "Dee D. Flint" <deefl...@comcast.net> wrote
>
> > Metal clarinets have been around since before 1910. Many companies made
> > metal clarinets at one time including Leblanc (under the Noblet name),
> > Selmer, Haynes, and Conn.
Conn made a few as early as the 1880s! I think they switched to hard
rubber as soon as it was feasible. They didn't make another metal
clarinet till the late 1920s.
-P.
Ted Thompson
There were some that played as well as any wood clarinet of the time I`m
told. I started on one and played it for some years then got a wooden one,
both bad.
"Paul Lindemeyer" <pa...@lindemeyer.comspam> wrote in message
news:070620040928277233%pa...@lindemeyer.comspam...
Dee D. Flint
"Ted Thompson" <tt...@triad.rr.com> wrote in message
news:2Lkyc.24971$wH4.1...@twister.southeast.rr.com...
> There were some sterling silver ones made, maybe by Haynes, I`m not sure.
> There were some that played as well as any wood clarinet of the time I`m
> told. I started on one and played it for some years then got a wooden one,
> both bad.
Haynes did indeed produce some sterling silver clarinets. From what I have
read, they were of very high quality and performed well.
The biggest problem with metal clarinets (and what killed them off) was that
the vast majority were cheap junk produced to foist off on students just
like the cheap plastic junk that has been flooding this country from som
parts of Asia.
There is nothing inferior about metal or plastic or hard rubber or whatever.
A well designed clarinet will play and sound good while a bad one will play
poorly and have sound problems.
A poorly designed and built wooden clarinet can be as bad as anything on the
market. The old Conn Pan American is an example. Although it had a big,
bold pleasing sound, it was next to impossible to play in tune.
Steve Marshall
"Dee D. Flint" <deefl...@comcast.net> wrote
> There is nothing inferior about metal or plastic or hard rubber or
whatever.
> A well designed clarinet will play and sound good while a bad one will
play
> poorly and have sound problems.
Last few hard rubber clarients I saw smelt rather badly. I wouldn't want to
play a clarient that smelt.
Do you know how many of the metal clarinets were high pitched ? I've seen
one a few and that makes them next to useless too.
Steve M
Dee D. Flint
>
> "Dee D. Flint" <deefl...@comcast.net> wrote
>
> > There is nothing inferior about metal or plastic or hard rubber or
> whatever.
> > A well designed clarinet will play and sound good while a bad one will
> play
> > poorly and have sound problems.
>
> Last few hard rubber clarients I saw smelt rather badly. I wouldn't want
to
> play a clarient that smelt.
>
Smell is not inherent in hard rubber but the rubber can pick it up from
another source. Of course it could have been the pads and a repad would
correct that. Finally if exposed to too much sun or heat, the hard rubber
loses some of its material properties and can start to smell but this
general is not strong.
>
> Do you know how many of the metal clarinets were high pitched ? I've seen
> one a few and that makes them next to useless too.
>
I have no idea. However most of the ones that a person runs across were
produced as student instruments in the late 30's and the 40's so they would
typically be low pitch (modern pitch).
Steve Marshall
"Dee D. Flint" <deefl...@comcast.net> wrote
> Smell is not inherent in hard rubber but the rubber can pick it up from
> another source. Of course it could have been the pads and a repad would
> correct that. Finally if exposed to too much sun or heat, the hard rubber
> loses some of its material properties and can start to smell but this
> general is not strong.
>
These were brand new instruments, made in China. They seem to be softer
than other hard rubber items I've seen i.e. mouthpieces etc. They certainly
smell - and they smell of rubber.
Most of the el cheapo instruments out today seem to be similar to these
instruments. (If not the same).
Steve M
Dee D. Flint
Interesting. In this case, I would tend to think the rubber was not
properly cured. This is just another reason to stay away from these
clarinet shaped objects.
cathyor...@gmail.com
Bennett Price
> The one I have is dated to 1937 cavilier clarenet made by elkheart and had some test done on the metal to find out if it's silver plated or if it's Sterling silver and got test back on it and was 85 percent of Sterling ng silver based metle and know I am looking to sell it I courios of what it's worth
>
https://sites.google.com/clarinetpages.net/clarinetpages/metal-clarinets/good-metal-clarinets?authuser=0
Some info is there about Cavalier clarinets
And look here:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=173733&t=173733
and here:
http://test.woodwind.org/clarinet/BBoard/read.html?f=1&i=7509&t=7496
Fred McKenzie
You also need to determine whether it is High or Low Pitch. Modern Low
Pitch instruments are based on "A" equal 440 Hz. Older instruments were
based on "A" equal 450 Hz or higher.
In 1937, there were still some of the older High Pitch instruments being
sold. There may still be some groups that use High Pitch, but they are
rare.
Fred